- I have a WONDERFUL school schedule. I start the day off with Pom practice 1st period. We also practice after school twice a week, and more when needed. That after school part stinks, but whatevs. I'm committed ;) Then I teach Leadership for periods 2 and 3. Next comes homeroom, lunch, and my planning period. Thats nice because I get at the halfway point in my school day, and then I go to the gym for basketball practice for periods 5 and 6. Thats essentially a break as well, since I know basketball like the back of my hand, and I get to wear basketball clothes, and I'm in there with another coach, so its not that hard of a responsibility. Sometimes an annoyance, but we'll get to that lower on the list. Then I come back to my classroom for Leadership 7th period. My leadership class sizes are 22, 14, and 8. Its sometimes hard to keep them all on the same page since the class of 22 usually goes different or slower than the class of 8.
- I bring my work bag and my clothes bag back and forth everyday. I go to school in my dance workout clothes. Then I change into my teacher clothes in my pom office in the high school. We have a nice big pom room that we share with cheer and thats all. Lots of space, mirrors, storage, and a bathroom. After I change into my teacher clothes, I walk back across the parking lot to the junior high campus. Then during my planning period, I change from my teacher clothes into my basketball clothes. And then after an hour and a half of basketball, I hurry back to my classroom and change back from my basketball clothes into my teacher clothes. There have been probably 3 days in the last 3 weeks that I didn't change back for 7th period and just stayed in my basketball clothes, but I always try to. The teacher across the hall from me coached last year and said he never changed back for 7th hour and that the principal never said anything. Because of the content of my class, however, I prefer to look nice and professional to discuss what we do. Plus, my 7th hour kids appreciate it and have told me so.
- On my first day, I introduced myself and then went around the room to have each student say their name and something about them. I actually learned all their names very, very quickly. I was surprised. But anyways, in my little class of 8, this one girl said her name and then said, "Something about me is that I'm very quiet and shy and don't talk very much in class." Funny thing was and is -- she never shuts up!! Ever. I think of my 3rd period class of 8 as my primary class. We have more time than the other classes since we have less people and move faster, so I let us talk informally a little more. Out of the 8, 5 of them always raise their hands and share lengthy, personal, usually irrelevant stories.
- My 2nd period is my most talkative, but it is probably my favorite class because the kids make me laugh. A couple of them remind me of my brother Aaron - just flirty little smooth talking teenagers that make me laugh. One boy loves Wicked and musicals and my kinds of music and so we bond over that. For example, for one lesson I played Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror" and while lots of other kids were like, "What? Who is this guy? I've never heard of this song! You're weird!," this kid was just singing along. He has also confided in me that he used to be a "cutter" (someone who cuts their wrists to deal with depression) and that the song "Defying Gravity" from Wicked really made a strong impact on him during a really hard time in his life. He is very active in his church (as is EVERYONE else here) and said that he's preparing to sing that song at the church's open mic night, so I told him I would come.
- Another person in this class that I really enjoy is a boy who sits in the front row. I liked him anyway, but in the last week or 2 I have noticed his amazing interaction with a special needs boy in our class as well. The special needs boy is autistic and talks to himself a lot and sometimes even hits himself. He'll never do his work or follow along with us in our books. His Special Education teacher says he is smart enough and just doesn't want to do it, but I haven't found a way to connect with him. Other than when I get on the class to quit talking, he shouts out, "Come on, guys! Be mature." Which actually usually works for a while :) Anyways, this boy in the front row has taken the initiative to help him during our class. One day he was obsessed with sharpening his pencil and could never quite get it done exactly right. It was interrupting the entire class, so I went over there to help him and try to settle him down. But then this front row boy stood up and said, "I got this Mrs. Baker" and it worked. Then the next day I let them choose their groups to do skits and the autistic boy immediately calls out, "I'm with {the boy in the front}!!" so the boy in the front smiled and responded, "Yeah you are, buddy." That is exactly what I want my kids to be like. Confident, kind, and proactive. So their group gets up to perform their skit and the plot had to do with a drug deal. So this autistic boy (who I have never seen smile) gets up there and is smiling and saying "Yo dawg" and all this gangster talk. He was really enjoying himself and it made me feel happy that he felt comfortable enough to be like that.
- My door handle was jammed and off its mark, so after a couple of days, the maintenance guys came to replace it. The next day during homeroom we had an Intruder Drill, where we turn off the lights, lock our doors, and hide against the wall. So after the drill ends, I go to unlock our door... and I can't. The maintenance guys had reversed which knob went inside and which went outside. It was funny because we were all locked in together. But we called the office over the PA and someone came to our rescue and unlocked our doors.
- On a more sober note, our class will be talking about bullying extensively in the next unit, but it has come up briefly a couple of times during the past 3 weeks and I have made my position perfectly clear on it. So last Friday, I get done teaching one of my classes and go into the hall to monitor the kids changing classes. Then the bell rings and I come back into my class and go to my desk to take attendance when I see a note folded up that says "READ." So I read it and it is from a boy in my pervious class period telling me that he is being bullied and he doesn't know why or what the kids name is, but that he doesn't know what to do about it. That broke my heart but it made me feel good about myself and the work I'm doing there and that he trusted me to confide in. So during lunch, I went to discuss it privately with the principal. She told me about a bullying situation that she was handling that very morning actually and said that when she found out about that situation the day before, she had to go home and pray about how to best handle it because she was so upset by it. It really is nice to be in a community where everyone is so religious and not scared to refer to praying about how to help kids. I got to experience that at BYU, but thats an LDS school and thats what you expect. I wasn't too deep in the Utah public school systems for very long, though, so I can't really compare, but its nice. Anyways, I talked to that boy yesterday and we are working to find out the kids name and doing something about it.
- On the subject of mentions of religion in school, one day we were doing skits in class and they acted out going up to a sad boy being left out and making friends with him, so the kids in the skit started singing some "God Loves You So" song as part of their skit and then the whole class joined in, and I'm just over there caught off guard and thinking, does anyone know "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus????" ;)
- In my class of 8 people, there was another boy that would either read or sleep in class and never really talk and I worried about him. One day as they were working I was casually chatting with them about how I need to decorate my room more and someone brought up the video game Minecraft which I had never heard of before. But anyways, this quiet sleeper boy immediately lights up and starts telling me all about it. After that he would be the last to leave class and give me subtle hints about the stress at home and his family moving in with relatives and enjoying this class and stuff. Then one day I get an email from the school counselor saying that he had a melt down in PE and went to talk with her and the story was that his parents are going through a messy divorce. But the fact that he let e in on a little of that made me feel justified in my work, also.
- I've not worn make-up twice in the past 3 weeks, just because I was so tired and so busy. One time the 7th grade boys in my Home Room pointed it out, which was both funny and annoying, but whatevs.
- Around here, if you are a Coach, you get called "Coach" and you call the other coaches, "Coach." It seems to be a huge term of respect and is used whenever possible.
Thats a quick run down on some highs and lows of my first 3 weeks of teaching, but I still need to catch up on Pom and Basketball. Happy Tuesday :)
